3.5 stars

If not for being my book club choice for March I probably would not have read A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson, and though I didn't vote for it I'm happy to have read it. Bill Bryson, a much published travel writer, was mid 40's when he struck upon the idea of walking the Appalachian Trail (AT). At time of publishing, the AT was around 2200 miles of wilderness and was the longest continuous footpath in the world. Bryson and buddy Stephen Katz embarked on this walk with little preparation, almost no experience, way too much gear, and a powerful fear of bears and other assorted wildlife. (Their unpreparedness for a walk of this magnitude reminded me a little of Wild by Cheryl Strayed - although Bryson's book was published 15 years before hers). Bryson spins an entertaining tale of their highs and lows, the people they met, the cold, the heat, the best and worst of their experiences, in a humorous manner interspersed with factual information about the history of the AT, the geology, biology, flora and fauna. Bryson has an acerbic wit and at times he had a Michael Moore ring to his words when critiquing National Park & Forest Services administrators. This wit was sometimes directed towards Katz making me squirm and wonder if Katz wasn't getting a bad rap, but I guess that's male mateship for you. By books end there was no question in my mind that regardless of their differences the friendship was solid and there was mutual trust and respect between the two.

If the point of the book was to take readers on a hiking journey it succeeded. If it was to portray the beauty of the wilderness it succeeded. If its success can be measured by the number of times I thought "I want to do this walk!!" then it was a winner, particular if you consider the fact I loathe camping and am not really an outdoorsy kind of person. A Walk In The Woods provided me with some feel good moments, (some cringe worthy ones too) and more than a few laughs. It was a good balance of factual information, opinion and anecdotes told in an engaging and interesting manner.

What a delightful, conversational, cosy read. I loved this book from cover to cover; it made me laugh (sometimes to the very edge of tears), made me think, but most of all it took me on a scenic ride thought the majestic wilderness of the Appalachian trail. Bill Bryson’s lovely and thoughtful narration is just a joy to read.

I really enjoyed A Walk in the Woods, the first book I've read by Bill Bryson. I enjoyed Part 1, where Katz was Bryson's trail companion, more than Part 2 but still liked all of it. The book has a very good balance of story, humor (including plenty of sarcasm), and Appalachian Trail history and information.

Hiking the AT (or anything similar really) is something I more than likely would never do. I am a day-nature-r, enjoying outdoorsy activities for the day, usually one day at a time, and if anything, am more of a Glamper than a Camper. While there are plenty of differences, Into the Wild and Wild are among some of my all-time favorite books, and I'm not surprised I really enjoyed this one too. Perhaps well-written books where the premise is nature-based are enjoyable for me because they're an escape - imagining the immersion in nature while not having to actually participate in the rigorous, physical demands involved in undertaking such a challenge.

With the never-ending pandemic and the turmoil of the U.S. presidential elections I felt I could use some Bill Bryson!

He is a writer filled with versatility. This book is on the Appalachian trail stretching all the way from Georgia right up into Maine. But the book is more than that – there are marvelous disquisitions on the flora and fauna and the geology of the region and some of the very informative people he met. And be warned – do not read this book in public unless you want to induce stares while reading Bill Bryson’s humour and wit! I laughed loudly on numerous occasions!

Bill and his friend Katz never made it across the entire length of the Appalachian trail. It did not take them long to realize that their initial endeavour was a little too much for hapless comfortable middle-aged folk. For example, the trail in Maine has frequent crossings of bogs, streams and ponds adding to the weight of the backpacks they were carrying as they tended to fall into the murky waters.

If you have idealistic visions of doing a long-distance hike you should read this book.

Chapter 6 – while hiking

Life takes on a neat simplicity, too. Time ceases to have any meaning. When its dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It’s quite wonderful really.

You have no engagements, commitments, obligations, or duties; no special ambitions and only the smallest, least complicated of worlds; you exist in a tranquil tedium, serenely beyond the reach of exasperation, “far removed from the seats of strife”, as the early explorer and botanist William Bartram put it. All that is required is that you trudge.

There is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going anywhere. However far or long you plod, you are always in the same place: in the woods… But most of the time you don’t think. No point. Instead, you exist in a kind of mobile Zen mode.

Of course, on other days - Chapter 7

We walked for four days and the rain fell tirelessly, with an endless, typewriter patter. The trail everywhere became boggy and slick. Puddles filled every dip and trough. Mud became a feature of our lives. We trudged through it, stumbled and fell in it, knelt in it, set our packs down in it, left a streak of it on everything we touched.

Quite seriously the funniest and most inspiring book I've read in a long time. The first half (or so) of the book with Katz was hilarious. The brief intermission without Katz was very interesting, but damn, I couldn't wait for Katz to show up again. The last few chapters when Bryson and Katz were hiking the 100 mile wilderness in Maine were tear-and-convulsion-inducingly hilarious. Wonderful, wonderful read!

This entire book is worth the read if only for the part that Bryson describes the moose he sees in Maine and, consequently, the moose species in general. I had to put the book down until I could pull myself together. I laughed with tears rolling down my cheeks for a few minutes. It was the single most hilarious thing I've ever read in a book before.

Oh, and this book has made me seriously consider (not just daydream about) hiking at least half of the Appalachian Trail. Presumably I'll do it before grad school - but damnit, I'm going to do it!

This is a book I had always thought to read, but never had. I am very pleased that I finally got round to it. If you’re wanting something funny and absorbing for the flight home, to sit on the patio with a cup of coffee, or you’re your favorite chair staring out the window you have found it in A Walk in the Woods. I’m intrigued by stories of people who take to challenging adventures… I'll never be one of them. Bill Bryson and Katz kept me laughing and entertained for hours. I latterly was laugh crying at points and my wife walked in and asked what the heck I was reading. I know people say this from time to time as in an internal chuckle. No this was literal. Laughing so hard tears came forward and I could not go on reading as the pages were blurred by my tears.

Mary Ellen was one of my favorite parts – I won’t spoil it.

Bryson and Katz spend several weeks on the trail, hiking 500 miles in their first section. Then the two take a break and return home for a few weeks, and Bryson resumes with some shorter hikes in New England. Katz and Bryson reunite in Maine to hike a particularly daunting section of the trail called the Hundred Mile Wilderness.

The first 500 Miles hold the best part of the book. The back half was good, but without Katz it was feeling a bit light and he returns for the hundred Mile Wilderness.

Sewn within the narratives are many stories and back stories of town’s histories, trail history and environmental issues of both. I never felt I was being preached at. I loved those parts of it as well. You laugh, you learn, you walk away in a better frame of mind. If you’re looking to escape a little, I recommend this highly.

Travel writing does not get any better or any funnier than this. This is Bill Bryson at his very best,side splittingly funny.

Bill Bryson sets out with his friend Katz to hike the Appalachian trail. The trail is picturesque,but for two men in their forties,it is still hard work.

As he always does,Bryson digs up a whole lot of background detail and trivia about the trail. It's first rate entertainment. Katz may not be the ideal hiking companion but provides plenty of humour.

There are lively encounters with fellow hikers along the way and even some disconcerting ones with wildlife. The trail can be dangerous too,as shown by the murder of some hikers in the past.

It is a lot of hard work,sleeping rough in shelters and braving the elements.Eventually,Bryson has to concede that he will not be able to walk the entire trail.

After that,he picks and chooses the spots where he hikes.And he is rather proud of himself for having walked as many miles as he has.

Bryson's subsequent travel books would not necessarily maintain this quality.

This book would later become a movie in 2015,with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte playing Bryson and Katz. But I doubt if the movie could do justice to the sheer comic brilliance of the book.

Read this over ten years ago and wanted to return to it since reading several more trail books. Still loved it. Bryson is the quintessential grumpy guy but I love his unfiltered thoughts. Plus he knows that Shakespeare was Shakespeare although that doesn’t come into play here.

4.5 Stars



I’ve owned this mass market paperback for 6,945 years and I thought I read it about that long ago. I’m assuming I never added it to GR. Well, here you are.. I read it, it’s logged, hurrah!

I thought about adding a pic of me hugging one of my favorite trees where I hike but, maybe later. I’m grateful I can hike a little bit with all of my medical issues and I’m not sure for how long. The woods are my favorite place, my love, my solace.

Years ago (hindsight) when I was younger I planned on walking a little bit of the AT and camping but I never did..sigh. I used to look at one of the entries to it when going down the road to somewhere else in the woods back in the day. Well, the day is over .. if there is something you’re thinking about doing, do it!

Still grateful for what I can do

Very funny as usual! I started off the book thinking "What a great idea, I'd love to do a hike like this," and ended it with a profound respect for how long and difficult the trek was. Definitely not one for my bucket list, unfortunately!

DNF at 31%. I don't find Bill Bryson funny at all. Zero laughs. Not even a chuckle, though there were plenty of times I could tell he was trying to be funny. As a result, Bryson comes off as a smug dick. I hated this book and stopped when I did so I wouldn't end up hating the Appalachian Trail too.


Bill Bryson's Spirit Animal

I kind of surprised I liked this book at all, because:
a) I read pathetically little non-fiction
b) I've never read a travelogue
AND
c) I'm only a fan of the Great Outdoors as long as I'm safely Indoors.



So, color me shocked that I not only finished this, but giggled my way through quite a bit of it! Bryson really is a pretty funny writer, and the way he captured his experience on the Appalachian Trail had me in tears a few times. His fears about getting mauled by a bear (among other things) before he started off were especially hysterical, and maybe that's because I could see a lot of myself in his initial terror of spending so much time surrounded by...NATURE!



Now, there was a decent-sized chunk towards the middle of the book that I just had to grit my teeth and push on through. Bryson's friend Katz wasn't with him during this portion, and the difference in the tone of the writing is really noticeable. Lots and lots and lots of mind-numbing details about the Trail, and very little of his experiences.
And while all of that sort of info is relevant to the book, it's also the main reason that I don't actively seek out non-fiction or travelogues.



Eventually, Katz comes back to finish out the hike, and the story vastly improves, but it never managed to recapture the humor or spirit that it had in the beginning.



But that's only MY opinion.
And I really did enjoy the last bits of the book a lot. Especially the moments between Katz & Bryson there towards the end.
Overall, I'd say this was a winner. And even if the whole thing wasn't to my liking, the first half was an easy 5 star read for me.
In fact, it made me want to call up my BFF to see if she wanted to take the kids camping this summer so we could poop near a waterfall!



You know, instead of meeting at a hotel on the beach and drinking ourselves silly while the kids play in the surf.
And then I thought about that sentence.
Bwahahahahahahaha!
No. Just...no.
See you in Florida, Jill! I'll bring the blender!